Baseball Tryouts
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Anonymous
| We are in MoCo. Which league KOA, BCC or any others are focused on player development rather than just winning? What do they evaluate in the tryouts? This is for 5th grade |
Anonymous
|
Can’t speak for those organizations but tryouts at this age are pretty standard:
- infield (grounders at SS, throw to first) -outfield (popups and grounders to RF, throw to 3rd) - batting (maybe 10 swings from coach behind an L screen) -baserunning (timed to 1B or around the bases) Intangibles: -kid looks and dresses like a baseball player (baseball pants with a zipper and button, athletic shirt, belt socks hat cleats) -parents don’t seem crazy (hanging off fence shouting instructions) and are friendly and light -kid takes correction well, shakes off errors with good attitude (extra important) -kid listens well, hustles Never been to one any different TBH. GL! |
Anonymous
This all correct. I will add one more. When doing infield a coach will usually hit one out of reach. Make sure your kid dives for that ball. Coaches can teach skills but they can’t teach aggression. They want kids who want to win. |
Anonymous
| We've done a lot of teams. Even teams that say they are about development are about winning when it comes down to it. Don't kid yourself. |
Anonymous
|
By 5th grade a lot of teams have been together for 3 years so you'll need to consider which teams have spots open and where your son fits best. Sometimes a tryout is really a team just fishing to see if there's someone amazing out there.
BCC Select is also a solid option if you want development -- professional coaching in winter and less focused on winning. If you are ok without winter, 5th grade also starts MCLL Majors, which is a much higher level of play. There was another thread that said "the grass is brown everywhere" and it really rang true with me. |
Anonymous
|
To clarify -- do you mean travel or select? Both BCC and Koa have travel teams and select teams (and BCC has rec). Between the two, it might come down to what days you want games/where. BCC plays Sun and Koa plays Sat. Both are good programs. These programs are more focused on development. They both offer winter workouts and Koa has been advertising a new indoor facility.
For travel, BCC is a more competitive program likely because they start developing the teams earlier (8U). In our experience coaching can be uneven and communication is poor from the org and the coaches (they rely on team parents). I don't know Koa travel but a former teammate went there and seems to like it. Neither program is cheap. Also consider Digin or some of the other programs, but you have to get a sense of who has spots and what is the best fit for your kid. |
Anonymous
| Look at MCLL majors - that starts in 5th grade and it's a step up from the traditional AA/AAA level. My 5th grader started this year and it's been great - the drafted teams to even them out. |
Anonymous
| BCC select has been great for my kids. Obviously can be coach dependent but a great option! |
Anonymous
| You might try the Rockville Rockets. I think the quality of coaching etc is team dependent, but my son had a great experience and grew tremendously as a player. Played 12-14u and now a few years later will be playing college ball. They are “travel” but they aren’t crazy intense travel. In our experience not too many crazy travel ball parents with outsized expectations of greatness. |
Anonymous
| We do Koa BABL -- it's drafts and there are 3 levels of play. My son really has thrived. |
Anonymous
| Another vote for BCC Select. My son is having a good experience. Good balance - it’s a bit higher level of play versus Rec, but not the craziness of travel. |